Natural hazards · Shields

Shields, WI natural hazards

Most of the natural-hazard damage FEMA expects in Shields comes from inland flooding, and overall the risk is high for a U.S. community. Flood insurance has paid 3 claims here since 2008.

FEMA National Risk Index, December 2025 · OpenFEMA claims, aid & declarations

Expected damage

How exposed is Shields?

High

vs. U.S. communities

FEMA expects yearly storm and flood damage to homes and buildings in Shields to be higher than in 63% of U.S. communities, mostly from inland flooding and cold waves.

Inland flooding37%Cold waves37%Tornadoes9%Hail9%Everything else9%

By hazard

What Shields faces

Each hazard’s share of the damage FEMA expects here, and how that compares with the rest of the country.

Inland flooding

37% of expected damage

Above average · higher than 74% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 3 years in the area

Cold waves

37% of expected damage

Below average · higher than 36% of U.S. places

Recorded about 6 times a year in the area

Tornadoes

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 85% of U.S. places

Recorded about once every 14 years in the area

Hail

9% of expected damage

Well above average · higher than 97% of U.S. places

Recorded about 4 times a year in the area

Lower here

HurricanesIce stormsWinter weatherHeat wavesWildfireEarthquakesLandslidesStrong windLightningDrought

Not a risk here

Coastal floodingAvalanchesTsunamisVolcanic activity

Flood risk changes street by street. Check a specific address on FEMA’s flood map, and ask about flood insurance before you buy.

Flood insurance claims

Does Shields flood?

Every paid claim on a federal flood insurance policy in Shields, from FEMA’s records.

3paid claims since 2008

$32Kpaid to owners

0homes flooded more than once

20082026

of homes in flood zones
are insured

of all homes
are insured

No community discount. Shields isn’t in FEMA’s Community Rating System, which cuts flood insurance up to 45% in towns that do extra flood-proofing.

Insurance rates: Marquette County.

Disasters that hit Shields

Federal disasters declared here

None of the disasters declared for Marquette County shows FEMA aid or repair money reaching Shields itself in FEMA’s records.

Brought FEMA money into ShieldsDeclared for Marquette County only

Marquette County has had 7 natural disasters declared since 1953, most often severe storms and floods.

Around Shields

Shields and the towns around it

Very lowLowModerateHighVery high

Packwaukeemostly inland floodingHigh

Shieldsmostly inland floodingHigh

Mecanmostly inland floodingHigh

Harrismostly inland floodingHigh

Montellomostly cold wavesModerate

Crystal Lakemostly cold wavesModerate

About these numbers

How to read this page

An average, not a forecastFEMA’s National Risk Index estimates the damage 18 kinds of natural hazards cause in a typical year, from decades of records and models. A quiet decade can follow a bad year.

Compared by rate“Higher than N%” compares yearly damage as a share of what’s here, so a big city isn’t rated riskier just for having more buildings. Shields covers 1 census tract, combined by population.

Money that reached townFlood claims are matched to Shields’s own flood-insurance community (here, the census tracts inside it); household aid to the registrant’s city; repair grants to the Town of Shields. FEMA’s model follows property values, so a place that recently lost many homes can rate lower than it feels.

FEMA’s expected losses across Shields total about $2.2M a year, counting buildings, people and crops.

Sources: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025); OpenFEMA: NFIP redacted claims, multiple-loss properties, community status book and residential penetration rates, housing assistance (owners and renters), public assistance funded projects, hazard mitigation properties and disaster declarations. Census tracts: U.S. Census Bureau.